Heads up if you hold a degree in math, science or engineering and have logged hours flying high-performance jet aircraft. NASA is looking for its next class of astronauts!

The agency announced yesterday it will accept applications in early November for new astronauts to support the International Space Station, and to participate in the human space flight. But with the Space Shuttle program scrapped, what will you be flying as a modern astronaut? For lunar missions, Orion will be your vehicle. But beyond the moon, NASA says it's "developing spacecraft and launch systems for a new generation of explorers that will go bak to the moon, Mars, and beyond." Sounds likely you will get a brand new spaceship, which would be rad.

NASA will announce candidates in 2013, and two-year training and evaluation program will begin in August of that year. Initial missions will be just a week long, but they'll eventually be as long as six months. You might want to think long and hard about that with news out yesterday detailing the difficulties of sex in space; plus the fact that missions will include six people max. Apply here (in November)! [CNET; Image:NASA]